The West Indies eased past Ireland in the first ODI in Bridgetown yesterday with notable performances from Alzarri Joseph with the ball, and Evin Lewis with the bat.

After losing the toss and being put in the field, Kieron Pollard may have feared the worst. The average 1st innings score at Bridgetown across the last 6 ODI’s has been 302.3 and the side batting first has been triumphant in two thirds of those contests. With Ireland’s leading run scorer Paul Stirling at the top of the order, and the experience of Andy Balbirnie and William Portefield providing the glue in the middle order, it would take an strong bowling performance from the Windies to restrict the Irish to a chasable score.

After a bright start from openers Sterling and Delany reaching 30 for no loss from 5, the introduction of Alzarri Joseph proved crucial. Joseph struck with just his 3rd ball of the innings, having the dangerous Sterling caught pulling at mid wicket.

Joseph bowled with an excellent average pace of 137.43kph and with nagging discipline. He consistently hit an awkward in-between length of 7-10m which the Irish batsman found difficult to deal with on a fast track. Of the 35 deliveries that Joseph pitched within the 7-10m zone, he only conceded 9 runs and picked up the valuable wickets of Tucker and Delaney.

The bouncer ploy was also liberally used by Joseph, who delivered 17 balls pitching shorter than halfway down (10m). The delivery that dismissed Paul Sterling pitched 11.7m down and was pulled straight into the ever-reliable hands of the captain Kieron Pollard.

Joseph has now played two ODI’s at Bridgetown, and has taken 8 wickets at an average of 13.50. With the second ODI in this series also being played in Barbados, the Windies will be hoping he can carry on his rich vein of form at this historic venue.

The Irish struggled to build partnerships and were eventually all out for 180 from 46.1 overs. At the break WinViz gave the Windies a 99% chance of chasing down the 181 set by the tourists.

Despite getting off to a shaky start when the normally reliable Shai Hope was dismissed for 13 on the penultimate ball of the sixth over. His opening partner, Evin Lewis, played a masterful innings and was ever-present throughout the run chase. He came tantalisingly close to his first ODI century at the Kensington Oval, after being denied in the cruelest of fashions. The scene was set with the scores level and with Lewis on 95. After consulting with skipper Pollard in the middle of the track, he was given blessing to attempt to launch Barry McCarthy out of the playing area to win the game and bring up the milestone. Lewis connected sweetly with the full wide delivery, and flayed the ball over extra cover. The ball landed agonisingly just short of the rope, and left the opener down on his haunches, stranded on a run-a-ball 99.

Lewis scored the majority of his runs from the pace bowlers, with 56 runs coming from 48 balls at a strike rate of 116.66. He cashed in on balls that were even slightly short of a length, and scored at a strike rate of 180.00 against any balls that were pitching shorter than 8m. He attacked 57.4% of deliveries faced and only played 9.9% false shots. This innings had a more clinical and attacking impetus than a typical Lewis innings, as throughout his career he usually plays 45.4% attacking shots, whilst making 17.4% false strokes.

The Windies return to Bridgetown tomorrow for the second ODI, fully hoping and expecting for a repeat result. Ireland will be hoping for a much improved performance to prove that they belong at this level and can compete with the best in the business.